Boondock Saints I & II

Starring: Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Willem Dafoe Directed by: Troy Duffy

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to ya!  Did you go to church this morning?  Or maybe just to the bar to kick back a few pints?

If you haven’t started celebrating yet, I suggest you celebrate by watching Boondock Saints.  There’s nothing like some vengeance wrought by a pair of Irish-American brothers in Boston to help you honor the patron saint of Ireland.

Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus) MacManus are two churchgoing, sunglasses-wearing, constantly smoking brothers who also appear to be fun loving and somewhat immature, based on early scenes.    Some unfortunate repercussions from a fight at their favorite bar introduce them to the opera-listening, flaming and brilliant FBI agent Smecker (Willem Dafoe).

Their manic friend Rocco (David Della Rocco) is a part of the Italian mob, and together they go on an entertaining quest to rid the city of undesirable elements.    Great combinations of sheer luck, skill and exaggerated violence help the boys make progress toward their goal , all the while confounding the local police – who are constantly sent to go get coffee and/or bagels for Smecker as a punishment for cluelessness.

If you:

  • Prefer a more serious/dramatic vigilante film
  • Are unwilling to suspend your disbelief
  • Are disturbed by ridiculous violence
  • Don’t appreciate the beauty of prayer/ritual (especially in Latin)

Don’t put it in the queue.

If you:

  • Like CSI-styles shows where the cops have to figure out a homicide that has been carried out in an unusual manner
  • Like action films with a little gratuitous violence
  • Love the versatility of Willem Dafoe (in my opinion, he MAKES this movie excellent)
  • Hunger for Veritas and Aequitas
  • Like a cute Irish accent
  • Don’t expect a serious drama

Put it in the queue!

Then I watched Boondock Saints II:  All Saints Day.   I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this movie.  Aside from some of the confrontation scenes – the last shootout in particular – this movie was a waste of time.  Here are all the reasons I do not recommend putting this in the queue at all:

  • They tried too hard to make it have a plot.  And the plot is pretty terrible.
  • Their new ‘sidekick’ is kind of annoying.  Rocco was too, but in a different, more tolerable way.
  • The humor just isn’t there.  It seemed like if there was any lapse in dialogue, they just filled it with a gay joke or an f-bomb.  Not funny.
  • The cops aren’t humorously incompetent, they are painfully incompetent and falling all over themselves for FBI special agent Eunice Bloom (Julie Benz – who I find über annoying), who replaced Smecker.
  • It is too long – nearly two hours.  It probably would have been half an hour shorter if they hadn’t felt the need to include a boatload of flashbacks from the first film.
  • The ending includes a cheesy and blatantly obvious eye toward a third installation.  Blasphemous…

I almost recommended it for those who were really interested in the back story for Il Duce.  But really, it’s just a couple more flashbacks that aren’t all that enlightening.

Skip this one and go have a couple more green beers instead.  A hangover is more pleasant than this sequel.

Written by Jennifer Venson